Peer review policy

The purpose of peer review is to ensure that only good science is published. It is an objective process at the heart of good scholarly publishing and is carried out by all reputable academic journals. Our referees play a vital role in maintaining the high standards ofAssessing Writing and all manuscripts are peer reviewed following the procedure outlined below.

Special issues and/or conference proceedings may have different peer review procedures involving, for example, Guest Editors; conference organisers or scientific committees. Authors contributing to these projects may receive full details of the peer review process on request from the editorial office.

Initial manuscript evaluation
The Editor first evaluates all manuscripts. It is rare, but it is possible for an exceptional manuscript to be accepted at this stage. Manuscripts rejected at this stage are insufficiently original, have serious scientific flaws, have poor grammar or English language, or are outside the aims and scope of the journal. Those that meet the minimum criteria are normally passed on to at least 2 experts for review.

Authors of manuscripts rejected at this stage will be informed within 2 weeks of receipt.

Type of peer reviewAssessing Writing employs double blind reviewing, where both the referee and author remain anonymous throughout the process.

How the referee is selected
Whenever possible, referees are matched to the paper according to their expertise. Our database is constantly being updated. We welcome/request suggestions for referees from the author though these recommendations are not necessarily used.

Referee reports
Referees are asked to evaluate whether the manuscript:

Is original

Is methodologically sound

Follows appropriate ethical guidelines

Has results which are clearly presented and support the conclusions

Correctly references previous relevant work

Language correction is not part of the peer review process, but referees may, if they so wish suggest corrections to the manuscript.

How long does the review process take?
The time required for the review process is dependent on the response of the referees. However, the typical time for Assessing Writing is presently 6-8 weeks. Should the referees' reports contradict one another or a report is unnecessarily delayed, a further expert opinion will be sought. In rare cases for which it is extremely difficult to find a second referee to review the manuscript, or when the one referee's report has thoroughly convinced the Editor, decisions at this stage to accept, reject or ask the author for a revision are made on the basis of only one referee's report. The Editor's decision will be sent to the author, with recommendations and verbatim comments from the referees. Revised manuscripts might be returned to the initial referees who may then request another revision of a manuscript.

Final report
A final decision to accept or reject the manuscript will be sent to the author, together with any further useful comments made by the referees.

The editor's decision is final
Referees advise the editor, who is solely responsible for the final decision to accept or reject the article.